


A Little Gryffindor Courage

by dancethroughthethunder



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Amortentia, F/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:22:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26188654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancethroughthethunder/pseuds/dancethroughthethunder
Summary: Sixth year students Remus Lupin and Y/N L/N have been good friends and potions partners for a while. One day, Professor Slughorn decides to switch up the pairs and you find yourself partnered with your dear friend Lily Evans while you study and make Amortentia. What happens when you find yourself smelling chocolate? Some teasing from Lily, and a push in the right direction from your friends help you and Remus figure out that there might be more than just friendly feelings between the two of you.
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 103





	A Little Gryffindor Courage

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested over on my tumblr. I personally headcanon that when a person smells Amortentia, they don't only smell what attracts them romantically but that there's the opportunity for strong familiar and platonic love to be represented to, and that's mentioned in this fic.  
> Sorry in advance for the terrible jokes, I have no shame in admitting how hard I laughed at parts while writing this. When I wrote the first line, all I could hear in my head was John Mulaney's "Hey can I walk ya home" impression of Bill Clinton. Anyways, feel free to drop by my tumblr with requests, comments or just to say hi. Enjoy!

“Hey pretty lady, can I walk you to your class?”  
“Oh my, a suitor of my own. I can’t wait to tell mother.” Your best friend Lily Evans giggled as she turned around to see you standing behind her, hand extended to her.

“Oi L/N, you make a better James than James.” Sirius yelled out from down the table as you watched Peter duck so James could have the perfect line or sight to toss a piece of cereal at his best friend. 

“Good morning boys.” You waved, laughing as Lily took your hand and began to walk with you away from the Gryffindor table and out of the Great Hall to go to your first lesson, Potions. 

You loved having Potions first thing in the day, and certainly not because of your professor. Sure Slughorn meant well but there was only so much fawning he could do over you and your best friends before you were practically begging for Professor McGonagall’s tough no nonsense attitude. No, you liked Potions because it meant you got to start your day with your best friends, as Ravenclaw and Gryffindor shared the class together. 

The second you left the Great Hall, you were joined by Dorcas Meadowes and Marlene McKinnon, the other half of your friend group. You supposed people thought it was strange that your closest friends were in a different house, but hey houses are about the qualities you espouse and hold dear, not a binding group of exclusive friends that you can’t stray beyond. The four of you made your way down to the dungeons while the three Gryffindors caught you up on the nighttime shenanigans the Marauders had been up to since you saw them last. 

Walking into the classroom, you saw a note on the front board telling you that Professor Slughorn would be late and to divide into the pairs up on the board. Huh, that’s weird, you thought, Slughorn usually keeps the same partners. Well, I hope my new one is as good as my current one. You scanned the board to find your name and breathed a sigh of relief when you saw that luckily you were paired with Lily. Okay, so maybe there were some benefits to being the teacher’s favorites. 

“Aww poor Y/N/N, she won’t get to stare at her boy all class.” Marlene teased as her and Dorcas took their seats on the opposite sides of the table from you and Lily. Huh, me and Lil and Dorcas and Marls? Slughorn must be in a really good mood.

“Oh hush, Remus and I are friends okay, nothing more. You’re just projecting your love for Sirius onto me, Marlene McKinnon.” Marlene shrugged, smirking, but dropped the subject as the boys in question walked into the room. 

“Sluggy, Lily, ladies, other members of the class.” James Potter came strolling into the classroom first, with a smirking Sirius Black, an amused looking Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin, lovingly rolling his eyes at his friend. James stopped to acknowledge Lily, then the rest of your table before turning to realize that your professor was nowhere to be seen. 

“We’re supposed to be getting into the pairs listed on the board, and starting to brew Amortentia. But then again, those of us who can read already know that, Potter.” If it was anybody else you were sure the harsh comment would be enough for a jinx thrown behind their backs later, but with Lily and James it was just par for the course. 

You went to the storage cupboard to get the ingredients you needed, while Lily was setting up your cauldron with the proper equipment you would need to make the potion. 

“Good morning, Y/N.” You heard the familiar voice of your typical potions partner and turned around to find Remus Lupin standing behind you, waiting to grab his own ingredients. 

“Morning, Remus. I have to say, as glad as I am that it’s Lil, I’m going to miss my favorite potions partner”. You teasingly bumped his hip with your own as you said this, your arms full of potions ingredients. 

“Don’t let Lily hear you say that I’m your favorite, not her, she’ll kick both of our arses.”

“Oh Remus, who said I was talking about you?” You giggled as you ducked under his arm to head back to your table.

“I’m wounded, truly.” Remus smirked at you as you tried to hide the blush that was undoubtedly creeping up your face. 

“Somehow I think you’ll survive, Rem.” You quickly walked away before Marlene or the girls could notice the interaction and tease you even further about it. 

You walked back over to your table, trying not to look back at the tall boy that had captured your attention. As much as you liked Remus, you weren’t going to say anything. Sometimes you thought he was flirting with you, but you were sure that you were reading into it. Besides, with best friends like James, Sirius and Peter, there was no way he could possibly like you without the three of them turning it into a spectacle a la Lily and James. 

Sometime later, Professor Slughorn had appeared, apologizing for his absence and mumbling something about a group of first and second years that had needed a big enough disciplinary meeting that included him as their Head of House, and the Headmaster. You barely paused to register what he was saying as you continued focusing your attention on brewing your, fairly complicated potion. Soon enough, the liquid in your cauldron was taking on a mother-of-pearl shine as steam came piling out of it. You wiped your hand over the back of your forehead, to hopefully reduce the bit of sweat that was appearing as everyone’s potions were giving off hot steam.

“Hey, Marlene?” 

“Yes, Dorcas?”

“I wonder what exactly a tall, sandy haired Gryffindor prefect smells like?” You looked up from your potion and groaned as your two best friends on the other side of the table exchanged wicked grins, that you knew meant trouble.

“Well you know Dor, I bet there’s one way to find out.” 

“Just ask Y/N/N what her Amortentia smells like.” Dorcas and Marlene finished together as Lily laughed and you groaned. 

Unbeknownst to you, there was a similar discussion occurring over at the Marauders table.

“Hey James, how many galleons do you want to put on a bet that whatever Y/N smells like, our Moony here smells in his potion?”

“It’s lilacs!” Peter excitedly claimed.

“What?” His three best friends turned, faces screwed up in confusion, to stare at him. 

“What Y/N smells like? She smells like lilacs.” Peter smiled as he offered this information.

“Now how in Merlin’s name do you know that Pete?” Sirius turned to look from Peter to you, back to Peter with one eyebrow raised.

“That Hogsmeade weekend when she was sick and couldn’t go, she asked me to pick up some more of her soap for her, don’t you remember?”

“No Pete literally nobody remembers that, and loverboy, do you feel like you’ve got competition now?”

“Don’t be a hippogriff’s left nut James, you two probably just had detention that day. And regardless, anyone could tell you that she smells like lilacs.”

“Again, no, nobody just knows that off the top of their head. Unless they’re Peter or they’re in love.”

Before either you or Remus could give some sort of (honestly well deserved) snarky remark to your respective friend groups, Professor Slughorn called the class to attention and began to wax poetic about Amortentia.

“Ahh Amortentia. The strongest love potion in the world, but I’m sure you all know that from the chapter. It smells different to each person, depending on that which attracts them. Some people smell purely based on the romantic love in their life, but for many of us, Amortentia’s smell reminds us of love both familial and romantic, platonic and intimate. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, maybe love is in the nose of the potion maker.” Slughorn paused here to chuckle, with one hand on his stomach and the other rested on his desk, clearly incredibly amused by himself. 

As badly as you wanted to keep a straight face and not encourage the man from any further attempts at humor, you couldn’t stop the laugh escaping from your mouth. Before you had a chance to cover your mouth with your hand, Remus turned around and the two of you shared eye contact and a smile that Lily (who was of course, observing) would swear had nothing to do with the joke you were both unsuccessfully trying not to laugh at. That was one thing you liked about having Remus as a potions partner, you had similar senses of humor and he wasn’t afraid to laugh at a professor’s bad jokes with you. Unfortunately, Professor Slughorn caught the eye contact between you two and decided that you were the perfect person to pick on as the next, and final, part of the lesson.

“Now, class, as we can see Miss Evans and Miss L/N’s potion is absolutely marvellous, see the mother of pearl sheen? The spirals of steam? I can see that not all of you had as much luck, so after we have Miss L/N demonstrate for us how to properly smell the potion and describe for us what she smells, I want you all to come over here and smell their potion. Then you may pack up for the day. Remember, I want a foot of parchment on Amortentia and you will not receive complete marks unless I see you smell this potion and you make mention of your specific type of scent in your essay. Have a good day, I’ll be at my desk to observe if you have any questions. But first, Miss L/N?”

You were hoping he’d forget. But, he didn’t. What a man, forgets when you need him to remember and remembers when you need him to forget. Oh well, at least he means well. You tucked your hair behind your ears so as to not get any of it in the potion and leaned forward to inhale just a little bit of the steam to be able to smell your potion. 

“Well, go on girl, tell us what you smell.”

As you breathed in, the first thing you noticed was the indescribable scent that you knew without hesitation, “It smells like my grandmother’s kitchen. If I could describe happiness and childhood in a scent it would be this.” You sighed contentedly as you continued describing the scent of your potion, “and something.. Comforting, clean, but I can’t totally tell. Oh, Lil can you move away for a moment?”

As Lily moved to the other side of the table, you realize that you can still smell what is just so fundamentally Lily. “Well that makes sense, the next scent is my best friend. It’s you, Lil.” You smiled at her as you tried to hone in on the third and final discernible scent in your potion. 

“Anything else Miss L/N?” You sensed that Slughorn could tell you weren’t quite done with your potion.

“It’s… hmm I mean it’s sweet but not like a pudding. I think it’s, yes it’s chocolate.” You were so focused on your potion that you didn’t see the way that Remus froze in his chair, eyes on you while Sirius was (not subtly at all) tapping Remus on the knee under the table, as if to say “Hey Remus that’s you in case you didn’t know, that friend of ours that you’ve fancied for years smelled you and you’re chocolate”. You know, the way an excited puppy might hit you with its wagging tail. 

But you didn’t notice, you were too busy trying to think through who you associated with the smell of chocolate because smelling Remus? Certainly not, how fanciful and romantic- you didn’t have time to be a hopeless romantic. No, there had to be some other explanation than the boy who you knew always had chocolate for a friend in need and who threatened to die Sirius’ beloved hair if he stole his last bar of chocolate one more time. It couldn’t be Remus, who always let Lily raid his chocolate stash for you when he knew it was your time of the month, Remus for whom you made sure to return the favor (what? You were a Ravenclaw for Rowena’s sake, it wasn’t like you hadn’t put two and two together, I mean really it didn’t take a potions master to figure out why his friends called him Moony). Nope, there was another explanation and that was that. 

While you were typically to dispose of your own potion and clean up your workstation, Professor Slughorn allowed you and Lily to be the first to leave class and have someone else (likely him) clean up your area, that way everyone else could use your perfect potion to find their own smell. You and Lily grabbed your bags and books, told Marlene and Dorcas you’d meet them in the courtyard and headed out of the classroom. 

As you made your way to the courtyard, Remus was taking his time clearing his own cauldron, hoping that if he went slowly enough his friends would give up and go smell the Amortentia without him. He could have smelled his own except Peter accidentally bumped his arm while he was pouring one of his ingredients into his cauldron. While Peter apologized profusely, Remus didn’t mind; it was one of the most advanced potions they had attempted so far and it was likely that a mistake would be made somewhere along the way. Regardless, Remus wasn’t necessarily afraid of what he might smell, he was afraid of admitting it to his friends. 

“Cmon Moons, time to go find out what gives you a nose boner…. A noner”

“Sirius, do you hear the things that come out of your mouth?” Being best friends with James and Sirius, one might think that they would cease finding things surprising. They would be wrong.

“Nope, it’s a surprise to me as well, more fun that way. Let’s go!” Before Remus could protest or find something else to occupy his time and attention, Sirius had grabbed his one arm, James the other and Peter was standing behind him making sure that he had no choice but to move forward towards the cauldron. 

The three boys shoved Remus so hard he nearly went head first into the cauldron, a little too excited to see what the potion would reveal. When the tall blonde boy softened, and the corners of his mouth turned up instinctively at the first smell of the potion, the boys knew that look meant one thing and one thing alone: lilacs.

Remus would deny it (“Denial is a hell of a drug, my wolfy little friend”) but he had a Y/N face. James could put a bell around your neck and it still wouldn’t be as reliable as Remus’ face to notify others that you had entered a room. Then again, as he’d remind his friends, unless you’re carrying a mirror around everywhere, one can never really know what the nuances of their different facial expressions can look like. Regardless, the Y/N face never lies, and without having to ask, the Marauders knew that the potion had confirmed what everyone with a pair of eyes knew, that you and Remus both fancied each other deeply enough to impact the smell of your Amortentia. As Remus began to straighten up, the three boys exchanged looks and knew that they needed to do something to help the two of you figure out how to express your feelings before someone in your respective friend groups just put it in a Howler for the entire Great Hall to hear. 

As you went on with the rest of your day, completely unaware of what (or perhaps more accurately, who) Remus smelled in his Amortentia, your friends realized that the Marauders were up to something. After Potions, you didn’t have another class with Gryffindors for the rest of that particular day so until dinnertime (you liked to spend lunch with your fellow Ravenclaws) you wouldn’t have a really good chance to catch up with any of them. That left the Marauders free to scheme and your friends free to try and find out what their favorite trouble makers were up to. 

“Alright Pettigrew, tell us what’s going on.” Lily Evans walked up to Peter Pettigrew who, instead of using his break to go into the courtyard or even the library, was standing outside the very same potions classroom they were in that morning.

“What? Erm, nothing really… what’s… going on with you?” Peter looked around nervously wondering why now of all times, it was his turn to be the lookout. They should have known better than to come up with a plan regarding Y/N without bringing Marlene, Lily, and Dorcas in on it. 

“Come on Peter, you can’t think we’re that stupid. Now where are the other three? And what trouble are you getting into?”

“My sweet Lilyflower.” The three girls jumped as Sirius appeared behind them, having snuck up behind them silently.

“Ugh, Sirius. Come on, we know you’re up to something and I don’t have time for another one of Potter’s proposals.” Lily rolled her eyes, while Marlene and Dorcas laughed. 

“Now now Lilypad, you’re not the flower we’re concerned with today. We’re on more of a… lilac kick today.” Sirius smirked, feeling so clever as he said this.

“So it has to do with Y/N?” Marlene’s eyes lit up as she started to put the pieces together.

“What? Erm, what?” 

“Everyone knows she smells like lilacs, she’s always getting more lilac soap and perfume when we go into Hogsmeade.” Dorcas rolled her eyes as Sirius looked around, clearly not expecting that answer.

“Huh, Remus was right, everyone knows that.” Before Sirius could answer, the door behind Peter opened and James came out of the classroom. 

“Okay, we take it back Pete, maybe that is something everyone knows.” Peter smiled triumphantly as Sirius shrugged. “Anyways, follow us ladies.” The six students walked up towards the Gryffindor common room together, as the boys filled the girls in on their plan for dinner. 

Dinnertime arrived and you walked into the Great Hall, surprised to find that none of your friends were at the Gryffindor table. You quickly scanned the other three tables, taking extra time when looking at the Ravenclaw table, in case they decided to switch things up and were waiting for you at a different table tonight. You even glanced over at the Slytherin table, knowing that the chance of them being there was greater than the chance of you suddenly owning all the gold in Gringotts. 

Suddenly there was an arm around your shoulder, and Sirius was by your side. “M’lady, would you care to join me for dinner?”

“Oh well of course good sir”. You laughed as you allowed Sirius to steer you towards the Gryffindor table. You sat down next to him and saw James, Marlene, Peter, and Dorcas all walking in together, talking as they made their way over to you and Sirius at the table. You started to pour yourself a glass of pumpkin juice when you realized that your friends were definitely up to something. The girls acting this cozy with the boys? All while wearing mischievous smiles on their faces and staring at you? Yep, something was definitely going on. You wondered if it had anything to do with Lily and Remus’ absences and wondered for a moment if that meant James was planning another elaborate show of love for Lily with Remus acting as the distraction.

“Alright, you lot are up to no good, what is it this time?” You did your best impression of Professor McGonagall, making Dorcas, Marlene, and Peter burst out in laughter and earning impressed smirks from Sirius and James. 

“My dear, wonderful, talented potion maker Y/N/N, could you kindly identify this potion for us?” James pulled a vial out of his pocket, took off the lid and handed it to you. Even if you hadn’t noticed the distinct coloring, the immediate smell of chocolate and Lily’s fresh linens hit you and you knew that somehow your friends had gotten ahold of their own bit of Amortentia.

“Guys, you can’t be serious? You can’t give someone Amortentia, that’s incredibly unethical and not to mention-”

“Don’t worry my wise little friend, we aren’t dosing anyone. But, you can confirm this is Amortentia?” Sirius smirked at you while taking the vial out of your hands, all the while leaving the cap off.

“Yes of course, how did you get it? What are you doing with it?”

“Never mind that, and just wait and see.” Sirius said as Marlene leaned into your ear to whisper (“nicked it from Sluggy’s office earlier”).

At that exact moment, Lily and Remus came up to the table, deep in discussion. “Hey everyone.” Remus smiled at you as he greeted everyone.

“Here, mate. You can take my seat and I’ll move over- woah, sorry Moons.” In his attempt to stand up and allow Remus to swap spots with him, Sirius slipped and managed to pour the entire vial of Amortentia down Remus’ robes. Before anyone could offer him a napkin to wipe it off the Muggle way, or could get their wand out for a quick Scourgify, Remus started laughing.

“Merlin, Sirius, it really wasn’t that important for you to prove. We get it, you don’t know that Y/N usually smells like lilacs, you didn’t need to go out and nick her perfume to prove that the rest of us recognize it.” Remus continued laughing as your jaw dropped. 

All of a sudden, it made sense. As the pieces fell together, you realized why Sirius had stolen the Amortentia from Slughorn’s office and why ¾ of the Marauders were conspiring with your friends. You quickly realized that the reason no one was quick to help clean up the mess was because unlike you, they knew it was coming and wanted to make sure that Remus would identify your scent before it was gone. You also figured that the reason Lily came late was to distract and slow down Remus so everyone else could have time to have you identify the potion, and that Sirius’ spill was as purposeful as him initially taking the seat next to you. Not for the first time that day, you knew that Remus unknowingly caused you to both smile, and blush while trying to hide both. 

“I suddenly remembered that I need to ask my girl Minnie McG about Quidditch and that I need Sirius, Peter, Lily, Marlene, and Dorcas with me for moral support.” James jumped up from the table, and after a nod from Sirius, the rest of your friends stood up and quickly headed towards the front of the room.

“All of them? That’s so odd. Y/N, your perfume is rather lovely as always, but would you mind passing me a napkin?” Remus awkwardly brought his hand up to scratch behind his ear as he sat down across from you, waiting for an explanation and a napkin. You instead got your wand out and muttered a quick scourgify, handing Remus a glass of pumpkin juice instead.

“Erm, Remus.”

Before you could say anything else, Remus (finally noticing the hesitation in your voice and amusement on your face) panicked that he had made you uncomfortable by recognizing your perfume, “Oh so earlier the boys and I were talking about our friends and Peter mentioned that he knew that you smelled like lilacs because of that one Hogsmeade trip and then-”

“Remus!” You reached across the table and placed your hand on his, hoping that you were guessing correctly in that your scent was romantically in his Amortentia, and that it wasn’t there just as a good friend.

“Yes?” This time, it was Remus’ turn to flush, and though his hand twitched nervously under yours, he didn’t dare move a muscle.

“That wasn’t my perfume Sirius spilled on you. It was, well, it was some leftover Amortentia from this morning. Wait, hey, wait, let me finish okay?” You smiled sweetly at him, knowing that his nerves had to be extreme right now. “Do you remember the third thing I smelled this morning? The chocolate? It’s you, of course it’s you Remus. I mean honestly, do you think I fancy the cashier at Honeydukes?” You winked at him, then took a deep breath.

“Listen, Rem, if I’ve got this all wrong and you smelled my perfume platonically like I smelled Lily, just say the world and we’ll never mention this again but, I fancy you, a lot. I figure that I know us both well enough to know that neither of us are really keen on being the one to make the first move. So I was wondering if I could borrow a little of your Gryffindor courage?”

Remus (who was displaying the strongest case of Y/N face in recorded history) nodded, happy but also curious to see where you were going with this. You smiled and took a breath to steady yourself as you lifted the hand that wasn’t currently on his and placed it lightly on the side of his face. If hearts could melt, yours would have been absolute liquid at the sight and sensation of Remus smiling and leaning into your hand. You slowly started to lean in, wanting to give him the opportunity to change his mind. 

Finally, for the first time since he realized he fancied you all those years ago, Remus Lupin decided to do something about it and leaned in to meet you halfway. Remus turned the hand on the table upwards, so as to hold your hand properly while kissing you and you smiled into the kiss thinking that if Gryffindor courage meant getting to kiss Remus like this, you might talk to Dumbledore about a house transfer.

As you pulled away, you heard a noise behind you and turned around to find Professor McGonagall staring at the two of you, as you both blushed but remained holding hands.

“Miss L/N, Mr. Lupin, I assume I don’t have to remind you that public displays of affection need not occur in the Great Hall?” McGonagall tilted her head and spoke sternly, and before you could apologize, Sirius and James came quite literally running up to the three of you.

“Minnie, it’s young love!! You can’t deny them that!” Sirius yelled as James dramatically pretended to cry, hand clutched to his chest. 

“Oh pull yourselves together boys, and get on with dinner.” As soon as Minerva McGonagall turned away from you, she could no longer keep a smile from creeping onto her face. She was ready to collect her galleons from Pomona Sprout about which of the two of you would make a move first (she counted your declaration as a move as the kiss was mutual), and could later be heard laughing over pudding “Well of course, I wasn’t going to deny them that, I mean did they see me revoking house points? No, but I can’t let them know we approve, Albus, it takes away half the fun”).


End file.
